The World According to Nick
My take on Software, Technology, Politics, and anything else I feel like talking about.
Tuesday, October 12, 2004

Turn About Sucks Doesn't It? 

From The Washington Post:

The Democratic National Committee plans to file a complaint with the Federal Election Commission that alleges that the documentary "Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal" is an illegal in-kind contribution to President Bush's campaign. Many of the stations the Baltimore-based company owns are in critical "battleground states."
...
DNC chairman Terry McAuliffe said the company was acting as a mouthpiece for the Republican Party rather than a legitimate news outlet.
...
Democratic FCC commissioner Michael Copps called Sinclair's decision "an abuse of the public trust."

Personally I think the whole thing is laughable. I talked about this issue when Fahrenheit 9/11 came out. Michael Moore spoke, and a lot of people listened. He had the right to speak, and I had the right not to listen. If you don't want to watch this documentary on those stations, then turn on one of the other 300 stations that seem to permeate the cable and satellite system. Republican groups tried to do the same thing to Michael Moore... and I didn't agree with that either. I suppose this is just a little Democratic revenge. Then again, you can just view this documentary as a little Republican revenge for Fahrenheit if you want.

But saying that this abuses the public trust is absolutely bullshit. If people don't like it... they'll stop watching those stations to tell the owner they didn't like it. Don't believe me? Ask the CBS affiliates in various parts of the country where they've watched their viewerships tank ever since Dan Rather "abused the public trust". This is not a news outlet spouting Republican propaganda. This is a station owner using air time. There is a difference.

Of course the reality is that this is just another distraction. Vietnam was 30 years ago folks... leave it be... stop reopening that wound. I've talked about it before. This election should be about what you would do as President, not what you did or didn't do in a jungle as a soldier.

Comments:

There you go again. Missing the point. The point is not that they are airing their "mockuentary", but that to avoid the equal time provision for Kerry's camp to respond they are trying to call it "news" programming. The owners of the station have donated 97% of their political donations to the Republican party (according to NPR) and are trying to avoid the law. The FCC will probably fine them but the process will take too long to matter for the election. How come the laws for these Neo-Cons only seem to apply to the little people. You want to slander John Kerry? Fine, but use the public airwaves to do it? Not on our watch, not without comment. Turn about for these folks is about not playing fair...

  Posted at October 12, 2004 9:19 PM by Blogger Shannon McCoy  
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Name: Nick
Home: Wauwatosa, WI, United States

I'm a Software Consultant in the Milwaukee area. Among various geeky pursuits, I'm also an amateur triathlete, and enjoy rock climbing. I also like to think I'm a political pundit.


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